Postmedia to cut National Post’s Monday print edition

Copies of the Postmedia-owned newspaper National Post are seen in this file photo.

DARRYL DYCK/THE CANADIAN PRESS

JOYITA SENGUPTA

Published June 19, 2017Updated June 19, 2017

Postmedia Network Canada Corp. announced on Monday that the National Post will be discontinuing its Monday print edition year-round as of July 3 in an effort to cut costs.

"Eliminating the Monday print publication puts our National Post brands on stronger financial footing as we continue to invest our energies into expanding our brands' reach both with audiences and clients," Gerry Nott, National Post's senior vice-president and Postmedia senior vice-president of content, said in a statement.

For the past eight years, the paper had been switching to a Tuesday-to-Saturday print schedule every summer but this is the first time that schedule has been extended. Instead, the National Post is introducing a Monday ePaper edition that will be available at epaper.nationalpost.com.

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In April, Postmedia CEO Paul Godfrey announced in a staff memo that the company would continue to cut costs after reporting a loss of $26.5-million in the second quarter of its 2017 fiscal year. Print advertising revenue had gone down $25.2-million and print circulation revenue had gone down $5.5-million.

Company-wide salary cuts have led to a severe reduction of staff and resources in Postmedia newsrooms across the country. National Post lost 25 staff to buyouts in December, 2016. Last year, a merger of the Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa newsrooms led to the dismissal of 90 staff. The company, however, did not discontinue any of its daily papers or tabloids in those cities.

Like most other traditional media outlets, Postmedia looks to its digital offerings to pick up revenue for the company. News of the eliminated Monday edition comes with the Postmedia's plans to launch redesigns of National Post and Financial Post websites and apps on June 20 as well as a new standalone Financial Post app on July 3.